Car truck



March 24,1942. J SHAFER 2,277,159

CAR TRUCK Filed Oct. 25, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR James ATTORNEY March 24, 1942. J. A. SHAFER 2,277,159

GAR TRUCK Filed Oct. 25, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mhl .INVENTOR w I James F4 07 r BY g ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 24 1942 can TRUCK James A. Shafer, East Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to National Malleable and Steel Castings Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 25, 1940, Serial No. 362,747

4 Claims. (Cl. 105-197) This invention relates to railway car trucks and has for an object the provision of a simple,

- yet effective, bolster supporting means adapted for use with either a bolster having cylindrical trunnions or a bolster equipped with trunnions having ends shaped so as to frictionally engage supplemental members located within the truck side frame.

Another object of the invention is to provide a supporting means for the bolster incorporating a strong and positive stop which will prevent the bolster supporting springs from going solid when subjected to an unusually heavy blow.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a car truck which may be inexpensively manufactured, and one in which worn parts may be readily and easily replaced.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an'oscillationdamper consisting of bolster trimnions having ends formed with wedging surfaces which, when moved downwardly relative to the side frame, force friction shoes, having supplementary wedging surfaces, into friction engagement with a single renewable sleeve or bushing.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of bolster supporting means in which assembly is greatly facilitated by having each unit of thelassembly positively position and lock in.

place the immediately succeeding unit.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view. partly in section, taken on line II of Fig. 2, showing my invention adapted for use with a bolster trunnion having wedging surfaces thereon.

Fi ure 2 is a top plan view, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l, with oneof the bolster trunnions and one set of friction shoes removed.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view, taken on the box-like housing 23 formed by walls I5,, I6,

and shelf l1.

The end 24 of truck bolster 25 is received in opening 44 of the side frame Ill. On the under surface of bolster end 24, are downwardly extending trunnions 26 havingtwo pairs of plane wedging surfaces 21, 28. The wedge shaped portions of the trunnions extend downwardly, through openings I8 in shelf I1 into frictional engagement with friction shoes 22.

Extending upwardly from shelf I1 to the under side of top wall 29 of bolster 25 are springs 30, 3|, which acting in, parallel with springs I9, 211, form a resilient support for the bolster 25.

Extending downwardly from shelf l1 into housing 23 are outer walls 42 and central wall 43 having shelves 32, 33 projecting inwardly towards springs I9, 20. A-single friction sleeve 2|. consisting of a major segment of a cylindrical bushing, is received in the opening I8, the up-' per surface of said sleeve being shown in the same horizontal, plane as the upper surface of shelf I1. Shelves 32, 33 support the sleeve in its normal vertical position and prevent it from moving vertically downward. Upward movement of sleeve 2| is prevented by the overlapping of a portion of spring 30 with a portion of sleeve 2|, as shown in Fig. 2. Rotation of sleeves 2| is eifectively prevented by the columns I3.

Friction shoes 22 rest on springs I9, 20 and are partiallyencased by'sleeve 2|. Lugs 35 on the friction shoes prevent rotation of the shoes out of their correct position by engagement with ends 36 of sleeve 2|. Each of the shoes 22 has a surface 31 curved to correspond to the inner curvature of sleeve 21. It will be noted that the curved shoe surfaces are made slightly sharper than that of the friction sleeve. This is done to cause the initial wear to occur at the central portion of the shoe along the line of action of the thrust from the wedge surfaces, thus eliminating any bending stresses in the shoes and also causing the shoes to wear until their surfaces substantially correspond to the inner surface of the sleeve. Opposite the curved surfaces 31 of the shoes are two plane wedge-surfaces 38, 39 which are sloped so as to correspond to wedge surfaces 21, 28 on the ends of the trunnions.

Upon downward movement of the bolster relative to the side frame, friction shoes 22 are forced outwardly against friction sleeve 2| by wedge surfaces 21, 28 on bolster trunnions 26. The absorption of the energy of the movement quickly brings to a stop any oscillations of the springs, thus preventing subsequent shocks from building the event of an unusually heavy blow, by theengagement of the under surface 40 of the bolster with the top surfaces of shelf l1 and sleeve 2L.

In assembling my car truck, friction sleeves 2| are first inserted in the openings l8 and lowered onto shelves 32, 33. The sleeves are correctly positioned by the abutment of one of sleeve ends 36 with the column I3. Springs 19, 20 are then inserted into the housing 23. The friction shoes 22 are next placed in sleeve 2| and positioned by lugs 35 and sleeve ends 36. The bolster end 26 is then inserted in opening 44 and lowered until wedge surfaces 27, 28 on the bolster trunnions contact wedge surfaces 38, 39 on the friction shoes. It will be observed that in the assembly, each part is accurately positioned and locked in place by the part previously assembled, and that after a unit has been inserted, no further positioning of that unit is needed to enable the next unit to be properly positioned.

When one of the side frames of the car truck tends to run ahead of the other, such as the case would be in rounding a curve, one trunnion tends to slide up the wedge surfaces of one of the friction shoes, while the other trunnion tends to slide up the wedge surfaces of the shoe diagonally opposite the aforesaid shoe, causing a vertical displacement of the bolster and the car. As the trunnions rise on the one set of diagonally opposed shoes, the other diagonally opposed set is left free. Thus, when the force tending to keep the truck out of square is diminished, the weight of the car and bolster actingon the diagonally opposed wedging surfaces produces a couple which acts to bring the truck back into its proper alignment.

When it is desirous to use my invention with a cylindrical bolster. trunnion 4I', which is not equipped with the wedging surfaces for use with the friction shoes, it is necessary only to leave out the friction shoes and allow bolster trunnion 4| to rest on top of springs I9, 20, as shown in Fig. 4. The renewable friction sleeve 2! is kept in place and takes any wear that may be caused by the oscillating bolster trunnion 4|. When used with the cylindrical trunnion, my invention affords the same protection to the springs, in case of ove'l'solid blows, that it does when used with the friction type bolster trunnion.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but recognize that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

What I claim is:

1. In a car truck, a side frame having a bolster receiving opening and a shelf therebelow, a bolster extending into said opening, bosses on said bolster extending downwardly through apertures in said shelf, resilient means positioned in said side frame below said shelf and in line with said apertures, a single friction member mounted in each of said apertures, friction shoes disposed within said friction member and supported by said resilient means, lugs on said friction shoes adapted to cooperate with the ends of said friction member to prevent rotation of said friction shoes out of their normal position relative to said side frame, and wedging surfaces on said shoes adapted to cooperate with corresponding wedging surfaces on said bosses to force said shoes outwardly against said friction member upon downward movement of said bolster relative to said side frame.

2. In a car truck, a side frame having a bolster receiving opening and a shelf therebelow, a bolster extending into said opening, lugs on said bolster extending downwardly through apertures in said shelf, spring means positioned in said side frame below said lugs, a single friction member mounted in each of said apertures, friction shoes disposed within said friction member and interposed between said spring means and one of said lugs, wedging surfaces on said shoes adapted to cooperate with corresponding wedging surfaces on said lug tourge said shoes outwardly against said friction member upon downward movement of said bolster relative to said side frame, and means on said shoes adapted to cooperate with portions of said friction members to correctly position said friction shoes circumferentially of said friction'members during assembly of said shoes with said members.

3. In a car truck, a side frame having a column and an aperture adjacent thereto, a friction member in the form of a major segment of a cylindrical sleeve received in said aperture and having its ends adjacent said column, a pair of friction shoes received by said friction member,

spring means on said frame supporting said shoes, lugs on said shoes adapted to extend into the space between said ends of said member to assure correct positioning of said shoes circumferentially of said member during assembly of said shoes with said member, and a bolster. having wedging surfaces adapted to cooperate with corresponding wedging surfaces on said shoes to urge said shoes outwardly against said member upon downward movement of said bolster.

4. In a car truck, a side frame having a bolster receiving opening and a shelf therebelow, a bolster extending into said opening, lugs on said bolster extending downwardly through apertures in said shelf, spring means positioned in said side frame below said lugs, a single friction member in the form of a major segment of a cylindrical sleeve mounted in each of said apertures, friction shoes disposed within said friction memher and interposed between said spring means and one of said lugs, wedging surfaces on said shoes adapted to cooperate with corresponding 

